Reminding me of Five Easy Pieces in terms of form, Debra Granik's Winter's Bone envelopes a grizzled resurgent incarcerated aesthetic within a young girl's desperate search for her dad. Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) has been raising her younger brother and sister for some time as her drug-dealing and manufacturing father simply has no interest and her mother has lost her mind. It becomes necessary to find her father who is out on bail after the police inform her that his bond includes their house and land. If he doesn't show up for court, her family loses everything. The people who know where he might be live in a cold violent culture saturated with extremely distinct gender roles and physical consequences for stepping out of line. Ree must enter this world and ask tough questions in order to ensure her family's survival.
Strict, stark, and sharp, Winter's Bone directly interrogates what it means to have consequences. Characters within aren't spending an inordinate amount of time considering options, there's simply a predicament and a potential solution tethered to an unforgiving social scale. Family can be relied upon if and only if this scale is balanced. Inquisitiveness will be tolerated to a point.
Demonstrating resourcefulness, ingenuity, and perseverance, Ree does everything within her power to broker a solution while taking care of her struggling family. The film's uniform statically resilient being is delicately nurtured even if its subject matter is harsh. Presence is effectively cultivated and sustained and agency delegated and retained. Number 3 closely behind The King's Speech and Inception in my pick for the upcoming Best Picture Oscar.
With a cameo from Sheryl Lee.
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